How I Shop Smart and Save Money on Groceries

I’ve posted about my family’s $300 grocery budget before and how we strive to maintain it each month. I’m not going to lie and say it hasn’t been somewhat of a struggle to maintain this budget, but I stick to it because it allows us to spend less and meet our other financial goals while still eating well AND we’ve done it before so I know we can do it again.

Sticking to your grocery shopping budget can be challenging when you see items you want in the store and are compelled to purchase them. A few extra impulse purchases have to cause my $150 budget for two weeks of food to turn into $170-$180 some months. The $5 Meal Plan is something that I have started using to help keep my grocery budget on the right track.

Slow Down and Meal Plan They Say

It’s true, one of the most effective ways to make sure you stick to your grocery budget is to create a list and plan out all your meals. I find comfort in entering the grocery store with a detailed list of what my family will eat for the next two weeks.

The only downsides are when I run out of ideas for meals or I ask my son repeatedly what he wants to eat for breakfast or dinner and he just shrugs his shoulders and says ‘I don’t know’. Then, he ends up not eating what I bought at the store. *Rant Over*

Since I’m the main one who comes up with the meal ideas and does the shopping, I started dreading both but couldn’t really do anything about it because we all need to eat. If you know anything about my crazy schedule you’ll understand why it started to become time-consuming to work out dozens of combinations of meals when I could be doing something else and just pay someone to do that task for me.

Why I Started Using the $5 Meal Plan

I wanted to keep save money on groceries each month, and it’s been a way to introduce my family to new meals. I thought $5 for my grocery list to be completed for me was perfect.  I also got tired of having to create my own grocery lists. The $5 Dollar Meal Plan is a nice alternative to me wasting time putting together a menu of what we were going to eat for the week.

The meals come out to about $2 a person so not to bad at all! The best thing is they start off with a two-week free trial so you can get a feel of what you will be getting. After the two weeks if you happen to not like the meal plans you can ask for a full guarantee of your last payment.

What Do You Get With My $5 Meal Plan?

• A menu each week that costs you just $5 per month
• 6 Dinner Meals, a Breakfast, a Lunch, a Snack and a Dessert (and occasionally a Side Dish or other tasty treat!) all together on the same plan
• Choose between the Gluten-Free Plan and Classic Plan
• One-time purchase packages of six weeks of meal plans and shopping lists around a certain theme (Normally priced at $10 on $5 Dinners but for $5 Meal Plan members, they are $8).

Preparing Meals For a Family With Different Tastes

Erin and Jim from $5 Meal Plans offer quite a few different options for members. Not all plans are $5, but the basic grocery list starts at $5. People who like gluten-free, vegetarian meals skimpy calorie meals, (under 450 calories), slow cooker meals paleo meals, and 30-minute meal can all get specialized plans. You have so many options and there is something for everyone.

It’s nice to have that and able to get a whole grocery list of ideas.  Some of these special meals aren’t the easiest to come up with on a daily basis, so a little guidance for a reasonable price is nice. You can also mix in ideas that you already had and add them with the list you get every Friday.

It’s great for small kids who might not love everything you give them, and a way to get ideas for them to try out. Everyone always having the same taste buds would be fantastic, but it doesn’t always happen like that. $5 Meal Plan can help eliminate some of the stress of finding something for everyone.

Feeling Lazy When It Comes to Planning Meals

What love about the service is I know meal planning is something I should do and I like the benefits I get from it, but sometimes life gets in the way and I fall off track with my schedule. I get lazy or exhausted on Sundays and don’t feel like researching recipes and planning out what we’re going to eat. That’s why I’d rather just have a list of meals and ingredients all lined up. I can focus on other important tasks and get some extra time with my family not having to worry about putting together a grocery list from scratch.

• $5 Dollar Meal Plan creates shopping lists with a variety that are tailored to popular grocery store chains like Aldi, Costco, Kroger, Walmart, Whole Foods and more.
• They have over a dozen meal plans including 30-minute meals, diabetic, gluten-free, paleo, portion control, slow cooker, clean eating, and more. This has especially helped me considering the fact that I’m always struggling to eat healthier and lose weight and I don’t always make the wisest meal choices for that on my own.
• Leftovers don’t last too long in my household, so it’s nice to have a wide variety of food to taste and try. I feel like if you’re going to cook from home and really commit to it, your food can’t be boring or cliché. How many times are you going to truly enjoy that same old recipe you keep making? eMeals does a nice job of switching it up.

I even take it a step further and order my groceries online using Walmart’s free pickup service. It cuts down on so much time. I no longer have to walk into the store to get my groceries. No longer have to run the risk of buying something I don’t need because I walk past my favorite snack in the store. I submit my grocery order the night before and pick them up from the store. Your food is almost always ready as soon as you pull up during your selected time slot. As long as you have the grocery pickup app you don’t even have to call or message the department they bring your food right out without having to notify them.

What Kind Of Meals Are Included

Skimpy Calorie Plan (6-week add on $8)

Beef Fajita Skillet Dinner,  Moroccan Chicken, BLT Salad.

30 Minute Meal Plan (6-week add on $8)

Lasagna Skillet Dinner, Potato Chip Chicken Strips,  Slopp-Cheesy Joe Sliders.

Slow Cooker Meal Plan (Best selling add-on)

Sesame Ginger Chicken, Beef Roast with Apples & Pearled Onions

Paleo Plan (6-week add on $8)

Mexican Chicken Soup, Apple-Almond Butter ‘Sandwiches’, Mango-Strawberry Green Smoothie

Vegetarian Plan (6-week add 0n $8)

Tomato-Basil & Corn Soup, Asian Lettuce Wraps, and Spanish Oven Omelet

Mix and Match

Current offer:  If you cannot decide on which add on to choose why not try a few? You can buy the original slow cooker, paleo, and vegetarian plans, (this does not include the 30-Minute Meal Plans) for just $20!

How I Save Money on Groceries

While I personally may not be saving thousands of dollars per year since I plan to spend only $2,000 per year on groceries, I am saving quite a bit of money despite it being a paid service. I love the custom meal plans, and my son and husband are big fans as well! The plans are so simple my son is able to give me a hand with some of the prep when and if I need it.

$5 Meal Plan is $15 for 3 months or just $60 for an entire year.

If you take advantage of the yearly price, that makes the service cost you about $5.00 per month. Yes, for $5 a month you can have your own custom meal plan and shopping list made for you to help simplify the process and free up more of your time.

How do you save money on groceries or maintain your grocery bills?